Deer kills man, critically injured woman in Victoria's north-east0:42

man has died and his wife is in a critical condition after they were attacked by their pet deer in Victoria's northeast.
Paul McDonald was feeding the deer on his property at Moyhu, south of Wangaratta, when it attacked, fatally wounding him and critically injuring his wife, Mandi.
Police confirm they have euthanised the deer due to safety concerns.
Image: News Corp Australia

April 17th 2019

a month ago

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Mandi and Paul McDonald.Source:Supplied

A Victorian mum is fighting for her life and remains in a critical condition after she rushed to the aid of her dying husband when their pet deer turned on him.

Paul McDonald, 46, was gored to death by the family’s pet stag yesterday morning after he entered the enclosure to feed the huge animal on their rural property near Wangaratta, in Victoria’s north east.

Mr McDonald screamed for help and his wife Mandi, 45, and their son rushed outside to help.

The McDonalds’ son quickly ran to get help but Mandi, witnessing her husband struggling on the ground, rushed into the enclosure to help him.

Police said Mr McDonald was dying when the stag turned on Mrs McDonald as well, goring her with his horns.

Mandi and Paul McDonald.Source:Supplied

After calling for help, the son ran down to the enclosure to find both his parents on the ground horrifically injured.

The ABC reports the son also entered the enclosure to hit the stag with a lump of wood to stop it attacking his mother.

A neighbour called for an ambulance.

Police said the family had kept the animal — a cross between a red deer and an elk known as a wapiti — as a pet for about two years when it attacked.

Mrs McDonald was treated by paramedics at the scene after police shot the animal dead and was flown to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital in a critical condition.

Before his death, Mr McDonald had posted photos of the deer enclosure at their Moyhu property to Facebook.

In 2013, Mr McDonald shared a picture of a family member feeding a deer on his Facebook page. “My boy,” the caption read, next to a smiling emoji.

“If you shoot my deer, I will legit shoot you,” a family member commented on the post. “He’s my baby.”

A deer on Mandi and Paul McDonald's property in Moyhu.Source:Supplied

Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Pursell told reporters the family was “very traumatised” by what happened and locals in the small community are in shock.

“It’s an absolute tragedy,” Mr Pursell said. “The family is just devastated. It’s beyond words how they’ve been affected by this incident today.

“These are wild animals, whether they are out in the wild or kept as pets and their behaviour can be unpredictable.”

According to a 2017 state government report there are as many as one million feral deer in Victoria, with species increasingly found in urban areas.

The government report also found deer are so well-established in the southern state it is now impossible to eradicate them. The only way forward is to control their spread.

Deer numbers swelled after Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, culminating in many regional councils writing to the state government last year and begging for a cull.

Licensed recreational hunters are allowed to shoot most deer species in Victoria due to their game classification.

The Invasive Species Council of Australia mourned the horrific attack, calling for a cull.

“Our biggest fears may have been realised, report just out that a Victorian man has been killed by a deer,” the council tweeted.

“We need hard heads to tackle this growing problem, not hard hooves.”

Victoria’s National Park Association has also been calling for a deer cull for years, comparing them to a more dangerous cane toad.

In July 2018, the association warned “deer have largely taken over most of Victoria’s prime natural areas in recent years”.

“They are trashing rainforest areas, mucking up our alpine region, chewing away at rare species in the Grampians — the list goes on. They are also impacting farms and creating havoc on our roads,” the association added.

Association spokesman Philip Ingamells later told The Age the state government would have to kill at least 400,000 deer a year to get the problem under control.